5 Unexpected Ways Your Body Can Totally Betray You

When I was 5 years old, I saw Santa Claus in our living room. I had crept out of my room to sneak into bed with my parents when I very clearly saw a man filling up our Christmas stockings. 

Although my parents assured me the next morning that I was dreaming, I have firmly stood by my belief that I was wide awake and saw Santa Claus in our living room. Sadly (although unsurprisingly) my recollection of Santa Claus was actually a false memory.

in a gene called PRDM12. Essentially, CIPA turns off the receptors that allow us to feel pain, cold, and heat. People with CIPA are at a greater risk for high fevers, especially in childhood. This can be fatal, because CIPA inhibits a person’s ability to sweat and help cool the body down.

Currently, CIPA treatment is focused on preventing infections, fevers, and injury due to accidental self-harm.

5. Alternatively, it can also make you immune to anesthesia.

For people like Jenny Morrison, who suffers from Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, local anesthesia has no effect during medical procedures.

Anesthesia “works for a few minutes and wears off very quickly,” she says. “In some people it doesn’t work at all, but for me it probably lasts about 10 minutes.”

Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS) is actually a group of 13 connective tissue disorders that are typically characterized by joints that stretch more than normal, overly stretchy skin, and fragile muscle tissue.

Not all types of EDS cause immunity to anesthesia. Researchers still don’t clearly understand the link between EDS and local anesthesia, but most believe it’s related to the extreme flexibility of connective tissue. Some research shows evidence that since the connective tissue is so loose, the anesthesia quickly slips away from the site being numbed.

There is no treatment for this peculiar side effect of EDS, but people with the disorder can opt for general anesthesia instead, meaning they’ll sleep through the procedure.